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“I know I’m the one who plunged the knife in,” I started as I shifted my gaze to the other monsters as well. “But I couldn’t have done it without all three of you in my corner. We did thistogether.”
Nox strode toward me and took me in his arms as Ruse remained perched on my shoulder and Thorn hugged me from behind. A rush of relief washed over me, and I was suddenly very aware of Thorn’s rapid heartbeat and incessant sniffing of the air.
As we each pulled away from our embrace, I noticed Thorn and Nox both kept looking over at the bloody corpse of Jonas Silver and fidgeting.
“You guys can, uh, take care of him if you want,” I suggested, pointing vaguely past them. “I don’t particularly want to.”
“If you don’t mind, I think wewilltake care of him,” Nox said as his nostrils flared. “We’ll take care of the mess as well since I don’t think anyone else is going to.”
“Right,” I said flatly. “Well. Bon appétit?”
Ruse fluttered off my shoulder and shifted into a badger when he hit the floor. All three creatures then pounced on Jonas with such vigor it was obvious this was a long time coming—one hundred and seventy-some odd years in the making to be exact. I didn’t need to see the extent of their feasting, as the vicious noises of their meal began to make me a touch queasy, so I excused myself to do one final solo tour of the mansion before my time here came to its end.
Chapter18
Logan
It was truly a shame I never got to appreciate the extent of the mansion during my abbreviated stay. My mind had been too preoccupied with other things to do what I came here to do in the first place—relax. Despite all the horror experienced here and the generations of darkness, it was a beautiful property that I hoped would one day make some family very happy. That is, if anyone would ever be able to sell it with its current reputation.
I wandered into the library, where I’d found the photo album just before Ruse had told me the truth about Jake. The space smelled like the dusty yellowed pages of well-loved books, and the way the morning sun shone through the windows decorated in stained glass images of ivy leaves and swallows made the library feel like it was torn from the pages of a fantasy novel.
Leaving truly was a shame.
A heavy sigh erupted from my chest as I plopped down in an oversized reading chair to do what I should have done yesterday—alert my dad and Blair that I would be home early. I bounced my leg as I tried to come up with an excuse that didn’t allow for too many questions, especially from Blair, who had already been made aware of my psychotic plan to free a trio of monsters from their mansion prison.
“boss man caught early flight home! be home soon!” I typed out before sending it off to my dad, who I knew would just be happy for two extra weeks to spend with me.
He must have been on his phone when I texted because I almost immediately got one in return. “sounds good kid. will be good to see you. miss you.”
Perfect. I knew I could count on him to be a man of few words and fewer questions. Blair would be another obstacle, but I knew I would at least be able to use her skepticism in my favor.
“u don’t have to miss me much longer. ill be home 2morrow! rich dude apparently found an early flight.” I sent it off to her before turning my phone on silent to appreciate the calm after the storm. There were so many ways the showdown with Jonas could have gone so wrong, and I was beyond thankful it had worked out despite every part of our plan backfiring on us.
I scanned the shelves around the room for something interesting to kill more time before I met back up with the monsters—mymonsters. I really wasn’t ready to bear witness to the aftermath of Jonas’s death or watch the creatures I’d come to love and respect tear apart another human. I knew it was a natural thing for them, but that didn’t mean I had to watch.
The same photo album caught my eye, and an idea blossomed inside me.
“Huh,” I said out loud as I rose from the chair to pull it off the shelf. I flipped open the front cover and quickly scanned each page for what I knew was in there, somewhere… the deed to the Silver Family Mansion.
“Found you,” I whispered as I brought the album back to my chair and plopped back down. I was absolutely shocked the bank didn’t hang onto things like this, but I figured the house was so old and in the same family for so long that it had probably never changed hands since being written.
I was immediately met with a moral dilemma. I had to assume that on a long enough timeline, as people realized Mr. Jonas Silver was unfortunately missing or deceased, there would be conversations to be had about his estate—including the mansion.
With the deed sitting in my lap, I could, at the very least, buy some time before the property fell to someone else. I looked around the library and sighed as I realized how deeply it broke my heart to think about this mansion belonging to someone else, someone new, someone who didn’t know the damning history of the place and the struggle it took to give the imprisoned, misunderstood creatures here a second chance. It was like I was watching myself in third person as I carefully pulled the handwritten deed out of the binder, delicately folded it into a square, and carefully slid it between the pages of a book I snagged off the shelf next to me. It was a miracle the fibers of the document didn’t crumble in my hand, and I hoped it would remain in one piece until I could find a safer place for it. Even though I was stealing, I wasn’t plagued with a single twinge of guilt. I knew this place was meant to be mine.Ours, even, if they ever wanted to return.
* * *
I woke up in the library’s reading chair with a black cat kneading my thighs.
“Good morning. Or, afternoon, I should say,” the cat purred. “Glad you were able to find a comfortable place to nap. Least you’ll be rested for your, uh, long drive home.”
“Hey, Ruse,” I said with a smile and a stretch before running my hands over the creature’s back and scratching affectionately on top of his head. “Everything work out okay down there?”
“Believe so,” he said as he rubbed against my hand. “It’s likely not a perfect clean up, but it’s much easier on the eyes, I’ll say.”
“Works for me,” I said. “Does that mean you’re coming up here to let me know it’s about time for you three to see if everything worked the way it was supposed to?”
Ruse hopped off my lap and pranced toward the door. “Yeah, I said I’d come get you. If you’re ready.” He paused at the library entrance, waiting for me to catch up.
